Suzuki to Raise Indian Plant’s Annual Capacity to 1 M. Units

Hansalpur, India, March 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp. is set to raise annual automobile production capacity at its plant in western India by 250,000 units to one million units with the addition of a new line now under construction. The company on Wednesday allowed members of the media to view the plant, which is in Hansalpur in the western state of Gujarat and operated by subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. The new line, scheduled for completion between July and September, will be used for the production of electric vehicles, according to Suzuki. The Hansalpur plant, which stands on an area of about 2.6 million square meters, began operations in 2017. The new line, the fourth at the plant, will primarily produce the e Vitara, Suzuki’s first EV model. The existing line that produces the e Vitara will be used to increase the output of the Fronx, a popular compact SUV. Maruti Suzuki director Kazunari Yamaguchi, who is in charge of production, said that training workers and fostering management officials, and improving their skills will be a challenge following the expansion of the plant’s production capacity. It is the first time in more than a decade that Suzuki has opened its production site in India to the press. Also on Wednesday, Suzuki unveiled a nearby lithium-ion battery factory. The facility was launched jointly with electronics maker Toshiba Corp. and auto parts maker Denso Corp. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]